The focus of the ANR proposal is to launch a network joining European and non-European teams working on local development in the highlands, in order to submit a proposal to RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) Marie Curie Program/H2020 early 2017. The objectives of the RISE proposal will be (i) share and debate the diverse initiatives and innovations of local development in the highlands, (ii) develop specific capacity building focused on different types of stakeholders and local people, (iii) participate in policymaking through relevant suggestions, monitoring and assessment of actions and (iv) strengthen a recognized European competence on the local development in the highlands. The partnership for the ANR proposal, and consequently for the RISE proposal, is based four countries of European Union (Austria, France, Portugal and United Kingdom), two other European countries (Norway and Switzerland) and non-European countries in Mediterranean (Morocco and Lebanon), the Americas (Argentina, Canada, Equator, Peru, the United States) and Eastern Asia (China and Vietnam). Research question is adaptation process and resilience of high mountain societies to global change, especially initiatives and innovations focused on local development. Several initiatives of local development in the highlands were implemented in the countries of the European Union, although the concepts have sometimes been built in other areas, as for example natural parks, reserves of biodiversity, reserves of biosphere, “regional” parks, winter and summer slow tourism, many small agribusiness factories for cheeses, liquors, fruits, etc. Diverse reasons justified these implementations in the European Union, especially the specific policies made at national and European level, which strongly incentivized and supported these initiatives, in order to reduce the disadvantages of these regions, mainly due to their weak access and their long distance to decisions centers. Indeed, focused on the sustainable development, the specific national and European policies significantly impacted local development in European highlands, compared with non-European highlands where economic issues and national interest usually lead their development, especially in developing countries. Moreover, the supportive context for local development initiatives lead to new initiatives and also innovations focused on the improvement of these initiatives and the building of new initiatives, including in policymaking. In other words, based on the European Union experience, the implementation of local development could lead to new steps of local development. It is a research hypothesis to be verified in European Union and tested in the other zones. A priori, for the method of the RISE proposal, we suggest using the concept of co-viability, which includes both viability and its regulation, to analyze resilience factors at different scales, representations and local knowledge, access to resources and policymaking in global change context. This point has to be debate with the partner in the next months. In terms of activity to be developed in 2016 in order to build the RISE proposal, firstly there are five visits to each of the European partners in order to better share the common objectives of the RISE proposal, select the local development initiatives for the compare analysis and draft a concept note of the RISE proposal. Secondly, a workshop joining the leaders of European partners with 3-4 leaders of non-European teams will allow to better define the contents of the proposal and to draft a first version.

The HIGHLANDS’ goal is to contribute to Inclusive Sustainable Development in Highlands (ISDH) through collective and impact-driven Research & Innovation (R&I), based on capacity building, sharing of local-global knowledge, experience, and tools. It will drive a co-innovation process through secondments and research and innovative sessions (R&IS) involving public/private and non-academic partners, to build a shared vision of ISDH, enhance the capacities of researchers, managers, users, policymakers, thus bridging the gap between research and development. Our activities will be organized in 5 integrated work packages (WP): Coordination & management (WP1); Methodology & capacity building for ISDH (WP2); Analysis, comparison and modelling of ISDH (WP3); Building a multi-actor ISDH Decision-Support Platform (DSP) (WP4); Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation of results (WP5). HIGHLANDS is supported by a network of 43 institutions including 31 partners from Europe (~35% non-academic), and skilled and motivated female and male researchers and local stakeholders. The work plan will run 8 successive R&IS (5 in Europe, 3 outside) to promote the exchange among participants as a foundation for innovation. Each R&IS will build upon collective learning principles and a holistic systemic approach, exposing participants to a wide range of world views that will encourage experimentation with practice. Each R&IS will focus on a particular aspect of sustainable highland development and will include collective learning, collaborative research, and capacity-building on data collection/analysis, modeling. To complement the R&IS, long-term secondments will be implemented for researchers and practitioners to deeply train and work together on specific issues identified by the consortium. Collected data on ISDHs will be stored in an online collaborative and interactive decision-support platform that will then be transferred to existing mountain networks.

"The project ""Developing Master Programmes in Mobile Applications and Game Design"" (MAGnUS) is aimed at enhancing IT graduates employability and quality of IT education at RU and AZ universities through introducing an interdisciplinary Master programmes in line with the Bologna provisions. The specific project objectives are: To develop new interdisciplinary high-quality multi-track Master program in Mobile applications and Game design in line with Bologna provisions and while adapting the EU best practice;• To upgrade the teaching staff skills in T• To set up student labs;The main project outputs are: Master programme in Mobile Applications and Game Design delivered at 6 RU and AZ universities; teachers possessing the-state-of-the art T&A methods; 6 student design labs set up at partner universities; pilot mobility schemes tested within the project; two summer schools conducted in partner countries, joint student projects in relevant fields. The Master programme will have two tracks and will consist of 6 modules and Master thesis defence. The project objectives will be achieved through the implementation of six work packages. During the preparation phase the main project policies and plans will be devised and analysis of key employers' needs conducted. During the development phase main outputs are to be produced. Training of teachers will be done through the cascade model: first, the train the trainer program will be introduced for a small number of qualified teachers; then the trained trainers will transfer the skills to a wider circle of academics. The student labs will serve as a link to partnerships with business partners which will be involved in project activities as associated partners. All project outputs will be evaluated through peer reviews, business partners' evaluation reports, student and trainees' satisfaction survey. MAGnUS will provide dissemination of the outputs through various measures."

Apheleia – Integrated Cultural Landscape Management for Local and global sustainabilitySustainability became a dominant key-word at the onset of the Brundtland report and, moreover, after the Eco-92 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Yet, 25 years later, the balance could not be other than to recognize our planet stands in a more unstable and less sustainable position, despite all intentions. The Rio+20 Summit, when addressing poverty as the core issue of sustainability, called in fact for a revision of the original concept, going beyond the so-called TRB (triple bottom line, considering the environmental, social and economic dimensions). Yet, a new understanding needs to build from human understandings and cultural diversity is crucial, and a new specific framework of reference is required, to address the challenges of Rio+20 and to converge with other global initiatives, such as “Future Earth” and the proposed “International Year of Global Understanding”. The strategic partnership Apheleia aims at structuring a convergent set of tools that will foster the need for a properly Integrated (as opposed to dispersed) Cultural (i.e. human and diverse) Landscape Management (rooted in human understandings and leading towards governance through awareness and critical thinking) for Local and Global Sustainability (addressing the great global dilemmas, but also focused on individual anxieties and needs). Such a program implies a high degree of complexity to be dealt with by the academia, but also requires efficient operative tools, that render such complexity simple for non-academics and for daily lives. Apheleia (Ἀφέλεια), the spirit of simplicity in ancient Greece, stands as the leading and inspiring word for the current partnership, since rendering simple the complexity of things is an academic obligation and an urgent need to foster tangible down-the-line convergent actions.Moreover, the Apheleia project specifically aims at contributing for an European contribution towards the global challenges as they are beeing internationally designed. Europe has been the cradle for many of the best practices in terms of sustainability, including its address to science and society interaction, and it must now promote a new framework of reference, anticipated but not yet consolidated. An European contribution must, per definition, be open to other cultures, interests and perspectives, make the most of European diversity itself, and involve universities, the private sector, NGOs and local and regional public authorities, i.e., be based on a multi-stakeholders basis. At the same time, partnerships should be focused and leading to clear and tangible results.Main aims:1. To establish a solid consortium, involving academic and non-academic partners, focusing in education and best practices that for students’ applied training in transdisciplinary innovative approaches to integrated cultural landscape management. 2. To train a selection of EU students on the complex use of convergent multidisciplinary tools for cultural integrated landscape management, through theoretical teaching and collective applied training, as well as tailored made individual study and essay, all combined in a new Intensive Program on Integrated Cultural Landscape Management for Local and global sustainability, rooted both in academic knowledge and in regional authorities co-operation.3. To collect, analyze and synthetize the rich field experiences gathered by the partnership members on diverse case studies distributed worldwide in order to present practical testimonies, records and professional perspectives to the involved students.4. To involve basic disciplinary core required competences (archaeology, technology, economy, law, sociology, geography, history, urban planning, etc., permanently integrated through transversal competences on materiality, anthropology, communication, leadership and entrepreneurship.5. To produce a common lexicon + website and a series of reference publications on the topic, merging theoretical and applied knowledge.6. To pave the way for a new European Master on the topic, as a follow up of the partnership, alongside successful case studies of innovative policies.This is Apheleia (Ἀφέλεια).

Harmony project aims to contribute to development of a comprehensive internationalization strategies and their harmonization at EU and Partner Countries (Armenia, Belarus, Russia) within the framework of HEA in accordance with the main provisions of the Bologna Process through modernization of international relation management of the partner countries universities, promoting the academic mobility and correspondently, increasing the attractiveness of the higher education systems in these countries and EU. Project represents a comprehensive approach to much-needed strategies for the PCs HEIs that will start from comprehansive research of internationalisation level of HE, following EU best practice study to boost horizontally their internationalisation. The action foresees strengthening strategic, infrastructural & human capacities in HEIs of 3 PCs, implementation of Internationalization Action Plans in 7 HEIs and further approval by national Ministries which involvement ensures project impact on policy level and provides modernisation at national development strategies.At the project core there lays development of approaches to harmonization of internationalization strategies in HE, research and innovation through setting-up tool kits and their national approval. The specific objectives will be reached by actions at institutional, national & multi-regional levels across PCs like implementing a set training set, establishing Framework of a Comprehensive internationalization strategy, recommendations for harmonisation. The action is complemented by extensive dissemination & networking activities. The partnership comprises 6 EU HEIs, 2 HEIs from AM and BY and 4 RU institutions; and the MoES of PCs join them. Expected impact is seen as contribution to coherence between internationalisation strategies and EU development cooperation policies by considering principles of equity and PC ownership; use academic and research mobility as given direction of cooperation.